Brownback 08′

(Christian Broadcasting Network) Brownback campaign: Our guy is the ‘leading conservative choice in the Republican primary’: The Brownback for President campaign believes they’re about to take off. The Brody File has in its posession a copy of what the campaign is sending out to their supporters. … The line of interest here is how Brownback is the “leading conservative choice in the Republican primary.” Let’s back up. Mitt Romney would disagree. He says he’s the leading conservative choice. He leads Brownback in the polls. Clearly, Brownback is laying down a marker and getting set to challenge Romney’s conservative credentials. Romney may be leading Brownback in the polls but his campaign is determined to point out that Romney does not lead Brownback when it comes to the fight for conservatives causes.

(WESH-2) Presidential hopefuls head to Central Florida: Presidential hopefuls are keeping the faith to get the all-important conservative vote. Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback said that rallying support from conservative religious voters could make or break a candidate’s campaign. “Generally people that are really serious about their faith frequently are intense voters,” Brownback said.

(SouthwestIowaNews.com) Brownback makes campaign stop in southwestern Iowa: During visits to St. Albert High School, Treynor Junior and Senior High School and a stop at Treynor State Bank’s annual ag seminar, Brownback outlined his concerns and hopes for the United States and the world. … While stating his opposition to President Bush’s proposed troop surge, Brownback said he wished Democrats had allowed a vote on supporting the surge and troop funding, the real area of engagement for Congress. Having recently visited Iraq, Brownback said he believes a victory is still possible, but added “it’s not moving in the right direction.”

(WIBW-13) Brownback to visit eight states in seven days: Brownback is scheduled to meet with Republican activists, donors and business leaders. He will also address key Christian radio broadcasters, lead a fact-finding mission to the U.S.-Mexico border, and headline the opening screening of Amazing Grace in Los Angeles.

(Des Moines Register) Who is right for Iowa Republicans?: Don Kass, chairman of the Plymouth County GOP, said the dark-horse conservative might be Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback or former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, both of whom are popular with the base but are not as well-known as many of their rivals. … Some Iowa Republicans might quibble with Huckabee, who signed legislation extending state health and education benefits to illegal immigrants in Arkansas. Likewise, Brownback is among the few Senate Republicans to speak out against President Bush’s plan to send more troops to Iraq, a policy most conservatives solidly support.

(Pro-Life Blogs) Blogger criticizes media for coverage of Brownback’s past: The decade old controversy is quite interesting because the allegation was based upon the recollections of a few individuals who said Brownback implied he was pro-choice in 1993. Despite a complete absence of documented statements, speeches or votes that would suggest he supported abortion, journalists and politicians now assert that he has flip-flopped on the issue. Brownback has a congressional record that is 100% pro-life. He has consistently opposed child killing and destructive embryonic stem cell research and his remarks during the Supreme Court nomination hearings of Roberts and Alito were arguably the most poignantly pro-life of all speakers. … I don’t know where Brownback stood on abortion prior to 1994 when he served as the Kansas Secretary of Agriculture or whether his views regarding legal protection for the unborn were developing. However, his record in office and public speeches are plain enough.

GOP convention looks toward presidential race

February 10, 2007BY DAWSON
BELLFREE PRESS STAFF WRITERMichigan Republicans tried to shake the depression leftover from the fall election today by looking forward to the presidential sweepstakes in 2008.By all indications, it’s going to take awhile longer.

Despite appearances at the state convention in Grand Rapids by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Kansas U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, and pep talks from surrogates for Arizona U.S. Sen. John McCain and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, GOP activists appeared to be a bit wary and worried about what the future holds and whom they’d follow into it.“I’m not wowed yet,” said Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, one of a dwindling number of high profile GOPers in statewide office.

All of the potential candidates, including others like former Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, have shortcomings, Land said.

Convention delegates seemed to share her reservations.

Genesee County Republicans Coy and Ruth Thomason said they were supporting Brownback and Romney respectively, but neither with passionate commitment just yet.

The Thomasons described themselves as “ultra conservatives,” and said they’d be hard pressed to support a social liberal like Giuliani. Unless, of course, he was the Republican nominee running against Hillary Clinton.

Romney, son of former Michigan Gov. George Romney, and his supporters spent much of the two-day convention addressing concerns that he too was a suspect conservative. Meeting with reporters before his speech Saturday, Romney was asked three times about abortion and whether evangelical Christians would warm to a Mormon candidate.

Romney said he’s “firmly pro-life,” and not worried about religious bias. Most Americans don’t have a religious test, he said; voters want a president who shares their values and is “a person of faith.”

McCain also tailored his appeal to conservatives. A promotional video that aired on his behalf in the convention hall featured more shots of Ronald Reagan than of McCain himself.

But McCain supporters said he has more momentum in
Michigan than any of the others. With Giuliani’s entry into the race last week, “McCain gets to be the true conservative candidate,” said Dave Dishaw, a top McCain operative in
Michigan. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who represented McCain at the convention, said the Vietnam War POW “is in a league of his own on the subjective qualities” people look for in a presidential candidate, like leadership and courage.

Still, the most enthusiasm generated for a presidential hopeful at this weekend’s convention was for the speech by Brownback. He touted bedrock conservative values and earned a standing ovation for it.

More than a few of those who gave it to him though, said later they don’t think he’s got much chance of winning.

The conservative Republican from Kansas is running for president in 2008. Brownback will talk about the role of the judiciary in an event that is open to the public. He has stalled the nomination of Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Janet Neff to a federal judgeship because she attended a lesbian commitment ceremony of a family friend in 2002.